Pubdate: Sun, 28 Jan 2007
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2007 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Luis Perez, AP

GUNS RETURNED TO DISARMED TIJUANA POLICE OFFICERS

TIJUANA, Mexico -- Police in this violent border city got their guns 
back Saturday three weeks after they were forced to turn over weapons 
to federal authorities because of allegations they were colluding 
with drug traffickers.

Tijuana Public Safety Secretary Luis Javier Algorri said soldiers 
returned all 2,130 guns to his department.

He planned to send a letter to the attorney general's office asking 
for the results of the investigation so he could clear up any doubts 
about his officers. No one from the attorney general's office was 
available for comment Saturday.

The officers handed in their guns Jan. 4 after President Felipe 
Calderon sent 3,300 soldiers and federal police to Tijuana to hunt 
down drug gangs. The soldiers swept police stations and took 
officers' guns for inspection to see if they had been used to protect 
smugglers who traffic drugs into the U.S.

Tijuana police initially stopped patrols after their guns were taken, 
saying it was too dangerous, but most later returned to work. In some 
cases, officers were accompanied by armed state police. Others 
patrolled in larger numbers than normal. One officer was seen holding 
a slingshot that he said was for his protection.

Algorri said the drastic action put the city's safety at risk and cut 
in half the number of arrests made in January compared to the same 
period last year. Five officers were injured by assailants who took 
advantage of them being unarmed, he said.

In several neighborhoods, residents took the law into their own 
hands, grabbing suspects off the street and tying them up before 
calling police to haul them off.

Dubbed "Operation Tijuana," the initiative was part of a major 
military offensive launched by Calderon against drug gangs. The 
president, who took office Dec. 1 promising to crack down on 
organized crime, has sent more than 24,000 troops to states plagued 
by execution-style killings and beheadings as rival gangs fight over 
marijuana plantations and smuggling routes.

Drug gangs were blamed for more than 2,000 murders nationwide in 2006 
and have left a particularly bloody trail in Tijuana, where more than 
300 people were slain last year.

Meanwhile, six federal police officers involved in Calderon's 
anti-drug operation were being investigated for extortion after they 
were videotaped Jan. 17 taking money from a driver in Tijuana, across 
the border from San Diego.

The video, recorded by the Tijuana police department, shows the 
officers at a checkpoint stopping a motorist and searching his 
vehicle. After a discussion, the motorist was shown giving the police 
a handful of cash including at least one $100 bill.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman